The Chicago Opera Theater and the Long Beach Opera have commissioned a new opera with the music written by Stewart to premiere in 2017, the Invention of Morel.
A portion of the music will be performed Monday, January 18, 2016, 5:30pm at Trinity Church in NYC with three other operas in development. More on that at the bottom of this post.
The opera is based on the 1940 novel La invención de Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invention_of_Morel
Here is the Chicago Opera Theater's release.
http://www.chicagooperatheater.org/the- ... n-of-morel
[quote]Coming in 2017, COT and Long Beach Opera co-commission The Invention of Morel composed by Stewart Copeland
Based on La invención de Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel will receive its world premiere in the spring of 2017 at Long Beach Opera and Chicago Opera Theater.
Most famous as the co-founder and drummer of The Police, Stewart Copeland is a rock legend who has also established himself as a major symphonic and opera composer, earning commissions from Covent Garden, the Cleveland Opera, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Virginia Arts Festival, the San Francisco Ballet, among others.
Copeland’s latest commission, a joint effort by Chicago Opera Theater and Long Beach Opera, teams the legendary composer with librettist and opera stalwart Jonathan Moore for an intense story of suspense, exploration, and unlikely romance set on a mysterious island. The opera is based on La invención de Morel, a 1940 novel by the influential Argentine author, Adolfo Bioy Casares.
An escaped fugitive arrives on an isolated, strange island. While exploring his surroundings, he observes a group of tourists, including one particularly beautiful woman with whom he becomes obsessed. However, something is not quite right in this paradise. He discovers these eccentric visitors exist in an alternate reality created by a futuristic invention of Morel, a mad, scientific genius who willingly leads the group to their death.
“We are thrilled to develop this time-bending love story with Stewart and Jonathan after their great success with The Tell-Tale Heart, which was given its US premiere in 2013 by Long Beach Opera,” says Andreas Mitisek, artistic and general director of Long Beach Opera and Chicago Opera Theater. “Stewart is a refreshing new voice for the opera stage.”
“The idea of making an opera out of Morel came from my 18-year-old daughter, Grace,” says Copeland. “She was drawn to the device of the two lovers on the same beach, but at different times. Music is the perfect way to create the effect of Morel’s invention of never ending time loops. The feeling of reality going around and around is how music works and provides a way to represent the overlapping and contrasting realities of the story...” Copeland comments, “I’ve got a pretty clear idea of how music can drive emotion, which is why I’m so keen on opera — it’s the most fun a composer can have with his clothes on.”
The Invention of Morel, with a cast of nine singers and orchestra of 16 players, receives a workshop with orchestra on January 18th, 2016 in New York as part of OPERA America’s New Works Forum, an annual gathering of opera creators. The opera will have its world premiere in the spring of 2017 at Long Beach Opera and Chicago Opera Theater.
Composer Stewart Copeland was the co-founder and drummer of the rock band The Police. His career includes the sale of more than 60 million records worldwide and numerous awards, including five Grammy awards. He has had commissions from and worked with many major cultural institutions including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Opera, the San Francisco Ballet Company, the Savannah Music Festival, the Brighton Festival and the Royal Opera House (London), among many others. He is the recipient of the Hollywood Film Festival's first Outstanding Music in Film Visionary Award, a Grammy nominee for his 2005 CD Orchestralli, and a 2003 inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Stewart Copeland has been responsible for some of the film world's most innovative and groundbreaking scores. [/quote]
Here is info on the music performance of part of it in New York in January 2016.
http://operaamerica.org/content/operace ... index.aspx
[quote]NEW OPERA SHOWCASE
Featuring A Thousand Splendid Suns, the Opera by Sheila Silver and Stephen Kitsakos, Beowulf by Hannah Lash, Dream of the Red Chamber by Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang, and Invention of Morel by Stewart Copeland and Jonathan Moore — all performed by NOVUS NY orchestra under the direction of Julian Wachner, with guest conductors Sara Jobin and Daniela Candillari.
The New Opera Showcase will be held at 8:00 p.m. at Trinity Church, 75 Broadway (at Wall Street).
Monday, January 18, 2016 [/quote]
Also see https://www.trinitywallstreet.org/music ... cial#opera
Note that the links are inconsistent on when it begins with one saying 8 and the other 5:30, but plenty of time to figure that out.